New Year Resolutions by the Dozen

Oh no. Not resolutions. Sucks as much as "top 10 songs" or "ten biggest news stories of 2005." Like who gives a fuck? OK, to play along, here are my resolutions (post two tequila-heavy "margaritas") for Two-thousand and Six, kids:

1) Believe it or not, I resolve to be [get this] more of myself than ever. Become a brand and not for wussy TV carpenters or stuffed animals. Like I said, what brought me here keeps me here. BSUR. Will.

2) I resolve to ride bigger, scarier rollercosters. Sure, I may puke now-a-days, but let's ride 'em, Jimi. WTF?

3) Fuck! Love!

5) Get a number 4.

6) How about less contempt?

7) Oh yeah, "unbuilding"

8) Welcome to the apex -OR- this just means that there's further to go.

9) Favre Barge (r)

10) Push the "motherfucker" button.

11) Tap the adaptive unconscious, better utilize rapid cognition; rely on it, shit!

12) You honor the dead by the way you choose to live your life after they're gone.

Life's Greatest Gift

"I read your poem - I've always thought death was life's greatest gift. If things were always great I wouldn't think that but since they're not, at least things won't be horrible forever. I've often thought about the worst situations people have been in, like excruciating torture, or being stuck in some terrible place with no escape. The thought of these situations lasting indefinitely, if we didn't die, is one of the worst things I can think of. "

- BDW, Florida

My New Jacket

[note: I suppose it's officially blogging when you're (oh, shit, "I'm") writing about a fucking jacket, somebody please kill me]

Just purchased a new jacket. Ostensibly it's a snowboarding jacket. But, I'm not planning to go out boarding any time soon – those days are a little bit behind me, but I might, you never know. I just thought it looked good (light brown herringbone), fit well, and I liked the sherpa fleece lining (as opposed to, say, polyester "fleece") - it's like hugging a lamb...

I fully believe that my new jacket will keep me dry and warm, it has a good hood (a fulltime Contour™ hood even). I was looking for an alternative to lugging an umbrella around everywhere I go and as Rich saw in SF; I was desperately in need of “gear.” This very nice jacket has channels for headphone wiring too. Thermacore insulation, taped seams, Storm-lite (r) shell, and Mesh-lined Pit Zips™ are a bonus. This is fairly serious jacket. By an important snow gear manufacturer – on that’s been around for a long time. Kind of the old, wise, experienced guy gear manufacturer. You know...expensive and such, but you get what you pay for in this case. It’s not for the snow kiddies.

You see, I’m old and can go out and purchase a fairly serious jacket from time to time. It’s not like I’m a clotheshorse (or clothes-whore or anything). I’ll probably never fully utilize the Tear-Open Goggle Pocket even.

Anyway, the point is, I get back to my office and I'm reading the book and I discover the model is called "Party Jacket." OK, hadn't noticed that. Reading further, I note that this jacket actually somehow “BUILT TO RAGE.” Here’s the text from the feature list page:

“Whether you're raging the mountain or killing brain cells with your bros, the Party jacket puts a new spin on style. The pinstriped herringbone fabric offers insane strength, waterproofing and breathability to keep you warm and dry. We also packed the Party with all the critical features -- dual 40 oz. pockets, a Stash Pocket™ and of course, the 420 pocket.”

Uh, OK. Note: I really like that 1) the Stash Pocket is a trademark of Burton, 2) they write, "of course" with regard to the 420 pocket, and 2) my new jacket has pockets for not one 40 oz bottle of malt liquor, it has the capacity for two bottles of malt liquor. 420 stash and 80 oz of malted liquor. Oh my damn!

So I look around my new jacket no fucking foolin’, there's this clever inner, inner pocket and in this inner, inner pocket is a little zip-lock plastic pouch (about the size of an old lady's change purse). Oh my! No kidding around with my new very serious jacket.

So, I suppose I’ll maintain my waning street cred by wearing my new jacket around although I’m a bit partied out by just looking at it on my coat rack in my office.

Rage on! Crunk by lunch.

Two Birds of a Peapod Feather

Half Way Point

And This Is What We Got

They have no lips.

The Genius of Sistine & Reeoch

Today's NY Times

"The Roman Catholic Church is formulating its position on a traditional belief about what happens to babies who die without baptism."

Read it for yourself.

WTF?

America and Americans

Why Does It Have To Make Sense?

Ok, I'll admit, living a life for Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Love is completely flighty in these modern* times, if not juvenile (if not asinine), but so what? What's the purpose of life anyhow? *[besides the modern internal combustion motor-car will kills us anyway]

What's the problem with having aspirations that are not entirely practical? So what? Who's to judge? Who's to care?

There are rules. Not policy or regulation, I'm not talking about that, but absolute rules. Universal rules, mathematical rules, irrefutable rules. So, why not live by rule? The rule of life rather than some trumped-up interpretation of what is right and what is wrong...the structure is already there.

"I hate having these feelings that are usually reserved for grumpy old people so young," so I won't. Stripped of all context, of course it's more comforting than boring...but, we have evolved. Or, better put, we must evolve.

It's all a matter of finding the right balance, the right mix, the right formula. I'm not advocating anarchy, socialism, religion,or anything but giving yourself a moment to think about the whys.

That's all I'm sayin'. Evolution doesn't have to mean "better" - just "different" sometimes.

For now.